Quotes of the day

posted at 10:42 pm on February 16, 2011 by Allahpundit

“With just one impressive speech, Chris Christie put three full days of CPAC speakers to shame.

“That’s the bottom line from a bipartisan panel of experts, who watched the New Jersey governor’s address on Wednesday at the American Enterprise Institute for POLITICO – and drew a sharp contrast between Christie and the cattle call of potential GOP hopefuls at the just-concluded conservative gathering…

“‘He hit precisely the right notes people are looking for,’ Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said of the Republican, citing the governor’s focus on getting the states and nation’s fiscal house in order…

“‘He looked presidential in the kind of Hollywood sense,’ Simmons said. ‘The Bulworth, straight-talking politician. John Goodman on The West Wing. Republican guy from the heartland. He looked that part but it’s a long way to go from there to the White House.’”

***
“The way to understand Christie, says Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for New Jersey politics at Rider University, ‘is he has the leadership skills of a powerful prosecutor who happens to be governor. He argues his case in the press, and he stays on the attack constantly.’ As a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Christie never lost a corruption case, and there were plenty in a state best known for The Sopranos. His favorite phrase: ‘Heads I win, tails you lose.’ Yet he’s declined to join other Republican governors and attorneys general in challenging Obama’s health care reform. He says he doesn’t have the money to fool around with that stuff right now, and if the law is found unconstitutional, New Jersey will benefit without having to kick in legal fees.

“His refusal to join in suggests a degree of pragmatism that is attractive to non-true believers. This is a guy who has focused his message of change, and is clear about what he stands for. This is distinct from Obama’s message of change, which meant different things to different people in 2008 and left almost everybody disappointed…

“Christie’s tough-guy approach is working, making him a national figure after just 13 months in office. ‘He commands the bully pulpit more effectively than any other governor we have seen in modern history,’ says Dworkin, who predicts Christie will deliver the keynote address at the GOP convention in 2012.”

***
DYLAN RATIGAN, HOST: Go ahead, Jonathan. Set all of that aside, just your evaluation of [New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie, period, as a politician and his rhetoric.

JONATHAN CAPEHART, WASHINGTON POST: I think Chris Christie is terrific. Here’s a guy whose tough talk is matched up by tough action. All those things he’s talking about, he talked about at AEI today, those are all things he’s done with the exception of dealing with entitlements and things like that which he doesn’t really have to deal with because he’s a governor. But because he’s a governor in a state with deep financial problems and is forced every day, day in and day out, to make decisions, you know, he’s, he’s making them and he’s not sugar-coating them. He’s not trying to be anybody’s friend. He, you know, President Obama talks about adult conversations. Speaker Boehner talks about adult conversations surrounding the big, tough issues that face the country. Chris Christie is the one who’s actually having the adult conversation and making the tough decisions. And when people get in his face and try to yell back at him, he yells back. He actually yells back, which is why I think is driving his popularity.

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Does anyone really believe that Jonathan Capehart truly believes that Christie is “terrific?” I guarantee you that the only way he would publicly and effusively praise him is if he was already sure that Christie would not be any competition to his real hero, Obama.

Does anyone else hear a dog-whistle when liberal democrat strategists are impressed with a Republican? I would be opposed to Christie on a national ticket for this reason alone, were there not so many other reasons not to support him on a national ticket. At least Donkeys stab us in the front.

Since Capehart and others are praising Christie, it is official there’s something else going on. MSM is fully building him up. I want to know why.

promachus on February 16, 2011 at 10:51 PM

pretty obvious at this stage. Mitt is imploding, Pence is out, danials is not catching on. The MSM needs the great white RINO to STOP PAlIN. they would rather go against someone like Chrisite where it’s ‘heads they win/tails we lose’ no matter who wins the election then have an out and out fight between limited government/marixsim.

OT: is anyone following whats going on in Wisconsin?
They are trying to pass a law ending collective bargaining for state workers. The teachers union is telling their members to not show up Thurs. and Friday. They are canceling school in some areas.
commodore on February 16, 2011 at 10:47 PM

He is playing it right, it is win win for him to keep saying he is not running. One can always find a truly compelling reason to change his mind for the good of the country, a bit harder to jump out front and say he is running. I don`t know if he runs or not but I would keep saying NO as well!

He has no problem with Obamacare as long as we can pay for it. Th eproblem with pure fical cons is that they are only good for conservativs during rough times. As soon as the coffers fill and they can justify the spending they spend like dems. Jus tlook at bush. His tax cuts increased the tax revs and him and his “fiscal cons” spend not only that increased rev but as much as they could justify “borrowing ” at such cheap rates of interest….

the only time fiscal cons appear to be small limited gov types is when we are close to bankruptcy.

Huckabee at least had the sense to lose weight before he ran for office. the MSM is building him up in the hope that RINO squishes will fall for him en masse and then the MSM will hit foursquare, starting with his girth.

I’m with you. His speech tells me that he has been reading and believing his own press. I’m all for him running, though. It would be too much fun watching the “tough guy” get waxed over the 2A, amnesty, etc.

Since Capehart and others are praising Christie, it is official there’s something else going on. MSM is fully building him up. I want to know why.

promachus on February 16, 2011 at 10:51 PM

If they’re building up Christie right now because they think he’ll be easy to take down later on if/when he enters the race(ala the constant BS polls results hyping Huckster), they’re in for a rude awakening.

Christie would destroy Obama in a Presidential matchup. He’d sweep the South, social issues be damned. C’mon, as if states like Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Mississipi, Georgia, etc. would ever go for Barry? He’d pick off a few northeastern ones(New Hampshire for sure). And he’d stand a good chance at winning back some Bush 2004 ones like Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

Right now he’s the one I want running more than anyone else, even Palin. In fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that Palin would be ok with sitting out and throwing her full support behind someone like Christie. And if the ticket ended up being Christie/Palin, the race would be over. Counting the votes on Election Day 2012 will be a mere formality.

Chris Christie is the one who’s actually having the adult conversation and making the tough decisions. And when people get in his face and try to yell back at him, he yells back. He actually yells back, which is why I think is driving his popularity.

. And if the ticket ended up being Christie/Palin, the race would be over. Counting the votes on Election Day 2012 will be a mere formality.

Doughboy on February 16, 2011 at 11:08 PM

Hmmmmm. You might be onto something. However Mitt and Christie had a dinner date about a month ago, and I am sure they were discussing who which one of them would be on top of the ticket and which one of them would be the VP.

profitsbeard on February 16, 2011 at 10:59 PM
I’m with you. His speech tells me that he has been reading and believing his own press. I’m all for him running, though. It would be too much fun watching the “tough guy” get waxed over the 2A, amnesty, etc.

i’ve been saying for months now mitt isn’t going to run he can’t beat palin. there are different faction of rinos just like demint and palin represent different sects of the conservative movemnt. demint is more social con while palin is more 10th amendment type. christie and Mitt are more the closely releated than say Danials/rubio/bush/huntsman wing

not much difference from my preceptive but form theirs its a big difference I guess.

i look for Chrisite to be “dragged” into the race to “save us” from Palin.

OT: is anyone following whats going on in Wisconsin?
They are trying to pass a law ending collective bargaining for state workers. The teachers union is telling their members to not show up Thurs. and Friday. They are canceling school in some areas.
commodore on February 16, 2011 at 10:47 PM

There is a chyron on the screen of the local channels just like there would be for a snow day, showing all of the schools that are canceled.

This is a huge, huge deal, I am surprised there hasn’t been anything here yet.

Watch how CNN and MSNBC and the rest of the lib media cover this and then compare it to the Tea Party protests, I have a feeling it will be night and day different.

How can one be against the corruption, taxation, spending, and teachers’ unions of a state, and be progressive

blatantblue on February 16, 2011 at 11:14 PM

easy…its why he is against those things. Is he against them because of a fundemental belief that the government should be limited or is he against them because the numbers say to be against them. If its the former he is coming form a conservative position. If its the laterr he is coming from a progressive point of view and his views will change depending on the numbers. (i.e when the coffers fill again he will be the firs tto propoe new spending programs that he supports)

profitsbeard on February 16, 2011 at 10:59 PM
I’m with you. His speech tells me that he has been reading and believing his own press. I’m all for him running, though. It would be too much fun watching the “tough guy” get waxed over the 2A, amnesty, etc.

pugwriter on February 16, 2011 at 11:03 PM
Kind of have to agree with both of you!

bluemarlin on February 16, 2011 at 11:13 PM

I should have added his position on the ground Zero mosque and statement that Mike Castle was a good Republican and would have made a great Senator, really? There are some other things I cannot hink of right now but I do remember thinking, why did he even chime in on these topics.

i’ve been saying for months now mitt isn’t going to run he can’t beat palin. there are different faction of rinos just like demint and palin represent different sects of the conservative movemnt. demint is more social con while palin is more 10th amendment type. christie and Mitt are more the closely releated than say Danials/rubio/bush/huntsman wing

not much difference from my preceptive but form theirs its a big difference I guess.

i look for Chrisite to be “dragged” into the race to “save us” from Palin.

Hmmmmm. You might be onto something. However Mitt and Christie had a dinner date about a month ago, and I am sure they were discussing who which one of them would be on top of the ticket and which one of them would be the VP.

portlandon on February 16, 2011 at 11:11 PM

Bad idea. Mittens as the Presidential nominee is suicide for the GOP. Romneycare eliminates one of the top two issues(Obamacare) for Republicans in 2012. The other issue being jobs and frankly do we even know how he did in that area as MassachusettEs governor? I know he’s had success in the private sector, but unfortunately that doesn’t always translate into votes in an election.

And if Mittens were the VP on a Christie ticket, that would be pointless. It would do nothing for Romney. He’d be in his mid-60′s(like Biden was in 2008) which would all but rule out any chance he’d be President after Christie’s term(s)(barring something terrible happening). And it would give no boost to the GOP ticket. Another northeastern Republican who’s unpopular with fiscal conservatives and Tea Partiers? Why even bother?

Palin as Christie’s VP would be perfect. She’d guarantee huge crowds everywhere. She’d help him raise hundreds of millions. She’d secure the social conservative and Tea Party vote. As an added bonus, it would cause the Hot Air servers to crash on a daily basis from all the traffic. And if anyone in the Democrat Party or media(I know, I’m being redundant) go after her on the lack of experience issue, they’ll look foolish as she’s actually got more time served as governor than Christie.

I suspect that Romney, knowing the enthusiasm gap is huge on his potential candidacy, is requesting Christie to join him on the ticket as a way of closing that gap. They’ll run as the “fiscal” team. There will be no social planks of their candidacy at all. The full Washington establishment will jump on board this ticket because they have no appetite for wading into the social issues. I also think that they will garner many disaffected democrats and independents if they stay away from social issues. The social conservative base won’t be happy, but they may not need them if they can garner enough democrats and independents.

Yeah. Madison is full of anarchists and professional progressives just waiting for a reason to gather. It’s the home of Joel Rogers.

I’ve heard teachers are encouraging their students to join the protests with them. Sadly, it’s the students who will be paying for the salary, perks and pensions of these teachers for the rest of their lives if things don’t change.

I think the reason some liberals are building up Christie or at least not tearing him down is because they want to make a (so far) underwhelming Republican Presidential field look more disappointing by comparison since Christie is not running in 2012. If Christie does run then we’ll see the real knives come out for him.

Hi! Do you still think Christie is running? You called it right for Pence. Seems like he was very emphatic about not running today. Even Ace has admitted that he sees no way after todays speech.

Geochelone on February 16, 2011 at 11:29 PM

I honestly have no idea. He’s reminding me of a little girl who gets compliments about how pretty she is and says “no I’m ugly” fishing for more compliments. You have to admit, he’s on fire right now and will really appeal to the moderates and independents.

Palin as Christie’s VP would be perfect. She’d guarantee huge crowds everywhere. She’d help him raise hundreds of millions. She’d secure the social conservative and Tea Party vote. As an added bonus, it would cause the Hot Air servers to crash on a daily basis from all the traffic. And if anyone in the Democrat Party or media(I know, I’m being redundant) go after her on the lack of experience issue, they’ll look foolish as she’s actually got more time served as governor than Christie.

His refusal to join in suggests a degree of pragmatism that is attractive to non-true believers.

Christies refusal to join in probably has to do 1) It would be a distraction for him to shove that down their throats… HCR might be popular with New Jerseyians… there’s already enough states challenging it 2) with the fact that IIRC he nominated a huge liberal to be his attorney general…

Christie can run in 2012 after serving what maybe 1/2 a term as Governor (his only executive experience mind you) and gets a pass while Palin is the quitter?

Good, I hope he does run b/c that takes the Palin quitter narrative off the table.

davek70 on February 16, 2011 at 11:37 PM

I hope by now you’ve realized that there’s a double standard with Palin on almost every issue. Barry talks about 57 states, Austrian as a language, profits-and-earnings ratios, mixes up breathalyzers with asthma breathers, and confuses Afghanistan with Iraq and gets a pass. Palin says North Korea instead of South and corrects herself 8 seconds later and gets reamed by the drive-bys.

Barry declares his candidacy for President having zero executive experience and only 2 years in the US Senate and gets a pass. Palin is picked as the VP nominee having served over a year and half as governor of Alaska, and the drive-bys question if she’s prepared for the job.

Barry attends a church for 20 years with a pastor who was his self-professed spiritual mentor who thinks we deserved 9/11 and claims the US government created AIDS to kill black people, but Palin’s religious beliefs were attacked by the media(and Matt Damon).

I could go on for literally days documenting the endless double standards. So let’s not act surprised when a politician like Chris Christie gets a complete pass from the GOP establishment and the media for serving only one year as governor if/when he enters the 2012 race. That being said, it would ironically help Palin in that area since anytime she was criticized for being “unqualified”, she’d merely have to point her finger in Christie’s direction and note the hypocrisy.

Yep. Good way to put it. Like some Hollywood types that hate all that attention but then go out in public to be seen so they can complain about how popular they are and how awful it is to be so adored. Your analogy is better.

The scary scenario is that he might back Romney and become Romney’s attack dog the way Huxely was Darwin’s bulldog.

In that regard he is a loose cannon that could backfire. Didn’t he take a swipe at Rush today over that “I hope he fails” comment. What Rush meant was that he hopes Obama’s agenda fails, not the country. Makes me suspicious that he is capable of distortions.

In any event if he takes down the unions that would be epic and what is happening is WisCon could ripple across the nation. We need it in CA.

Cain is the one that should run. He almost ties Chris in the post CPAC poll if that means anything.

Exactly, Christie is all talk whereas the real action is happening in Wisonsin. their governor was elected only recently and they have already made so much progress. Christie has had more than year and half, what has he done about unions except cut some youtube videos? Or the concept of actions and deeds been erased from the conservatism?

Palin has every right to run for President. She’s got my support if she’s the nominee and I’d have no problem with Christie as her VP(I think he’d pass on the gig personally).

But I’m talking electability here. I do think Palin can beat Barry, but it’ll be a close race. Like 2000 and 2004, it’ll probably come down to one state. If Christie’s the nominee however and Palin’s his VP, this is no contest. They’d steamroll Obama. We’d be look at a 35+ state win easily.

And at the end of the day, winning in 2012 is the most important thing. Or to quote Reagan quoting MacArthur, “there is no substitute for victory”. We can tear down these contenders all we want for their respective weaknesses, but if Obama gets another terms because we’re too busy b-tching about one guy’s stance on gun or the other’s position on manmade global warming, we’re gonna be in a world of hurt because we can’t afford 4 more years of this.

Great guy in key ways: he’ll do Jersey some good, but he won’t be the GOP candidate in 2012. My bet is he’ll come off as a hip-shooter on national security, which is likely to be what 2012 is about.

His questionable 2nd amendment credentials won’t help. He’s personable, fun, and smart, but his national fame isn’t from taking stands on big issues, it’s from getting into it with entrenched constituencies on local ones. That was one of Giuliani’s big handicaps. It’s not what voters look for in the president.